The method for preserving perishable foods has changed in recent years. Early preservation methods included smoking, salting, drying or canning. Presently, the most common method of preserving food is freezing. A variety of different types of products can be frozen, such as yogurt, ice cream and butter, along with meat products such as pork products, chicken products and beef products. When frozen products are boxed and refrigerated, spacers are usually placed between the layers of boxes. Accordingly, the change in preservation techniques to freezing products has increased the use of the spacer in many industries including the meat industry. The greatest proportion of these spacers, that are in common use, are constructed substantially of wood. Wooden spacers or pallets, however, have certain disadvantages. Wooden pallets have sharp edges and corners which can cause tears in the boxes containing the frozen products. Similarly, the wood pallets may damage the boxes by snagging the boxes on protruding nails or staples used to keep the pallet together. Furthermore, wooden spacers are relatively thick and heavy to provide the required compression strength to support the heavy frozen products. Moreover, wood pallets tend to deteriorate rapidly due to wear, warpage and breakage, therefore requiring not only frequent repairs but also large maintenance expenses.
As the food industry becomes more regulated, additional disadvantages relating to the use of wood pallets have been recognized. A pallet that is made of wood is basically an insulating product and thus, increases the time required to freeze the boxed food products placed thereon. Where the freezing of meat is concerned, this delay can increase the likelihood of bacteria growth. Likewise, unless the pallets are pre-cooled, frozen products, e.g., ice cream, may melt due to the thermal capacity of the pallet. Furthermore, the FDA is now scrutinizing the use of wood pallets in the meat industry to determine whether these pallets should be eliminated altogether due to the fact that wood absorbs blood from meat that may leak through the box. If a wood pallet is stained with blood, the pallet must be buried or burned, neither of which is particularly an environmentally sound practice. As an alternative to the use of a wood pallet, the industry has recently turned to the use of metal spacers. Metal spacers compared to wooden spacers decrease the time to freeze the products placed thereon. However, metal spacers, like wood spacers, tend to be heavy to provide the necessary stability. In my co-pending application Ser. No. 07/705,281, a metal spacer device is shown that is stable and lightweight. However, like wood pallets, most metal pallets can deteriorate quickly due to use and can snag boxes on protruding rivet or pallet edges. Therefore, the industry has limited also developed plastic spacers. There has been only a varying degree of success for plastic spacers. One plastic spacer, which is formed of a lightweight plastic, is called an "egg crate". For most products, the "egg crate" spacer tends to be too fragile and too flexible, making it very difficult to lift or move the spacer without boxes falling off of the edges. Another type of plastic spacer in use is formed by a structural foam molding process. Unlike the "egg crate" spacer, this spacer is sturdy; however, it tends to be heavy and it breaks or shatters easily.
Thus, there remains a need in the industry for a stable spacer that is lightweight. Furthermore, the spacer should be formed of a material that does not absorb liquid material which can leak from the products. The industry further requires that the spacer be formed of environmentally-friendly material which is capable of facilitating the freezing or chilling of the product. To this end, the present invention has been constructed to provide a relatively lightweight and strong spacer. Furthermore, the construction of the present invention addresses the industries needs for a durable, cleanable, recyclable spacer. Additionally, the present invention is constructed of material that decreases the time required to freeze the product placed thereon.